Unlicensed review – boxing meets dodgy City trader in tale of prizefighting redemption

Mark Hampton wrote, directed and stars in this drama, but his easy onscreen charisma can’t overcome a shaky, soap opera-style plotFinancial traders in the movies are usually hubris personified, while boxers are a sure-fire vehicle for an underdog story. Writing, and playing, the role of reformed city fraudster turned pugilist Danny Goode, as well as directing the low-budget British drama that results, Mark Hampton sets up a potentially fertile collision of these two opposed elements. But cornering himself into an ultra-earnest tale of redemption, he lets his film absorb a few too many cheap cliche shots.Danny is released after a three-year stretch for cooking the books; and, as a former high-rolling member of a late-night/early-morning gambling crew called the Breakfast Club, he now must accept diminished circumstances. This means a poky rental flat and, after his licence to trade is revoked, a restaurant job washing dishes arranged by an old friend, Jon (Mark Tunstall). His ex-wife, Chloe (Sarah Diamond), has the divorce papers ready to go, but Danny is keen to build bridges with his son, Ben (Artie Wong). He promises the kid a swanky holiday, so one more high-risk play is his only means of coming good: entering a £10,000 prize fight organised by local hardman Billy (Gary Davidson Jnr), who trains at Jon’s gym. Continue reading...

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